Prejudice Isn't All That Bad
Yeah, I excercise prejudice. To some extent, we all draw conclusions on things based on their first sensual appeal. I'm not ashamed of my prejudice. It helps keep me safe, physically, psychologically and even spiritually --guilty until proven otherwise, when it comes to many areas.
When a burner on a stovetop is glowing red, I assume, or prejudge, that it's hot. We prejudge it's unsafe to enter a building when the door is covered with danger tape. If the air smells of lemon, and the nearby trashcan is full of lemon peels while a pitcher of yellow liquid sits in the refrigerator, we could assume lemonade will be served in the near future. When you hear a siren from behind you, a good prejudice to have is to think an emergency vehicle is approaching, in the process of coming to someone's rescue.
There are numerous sensual stimulants which cause a preconceived notion to come to your mind. Past experience shows that the notion might very likely be correct. You can sometimes use this sort of prejudice when selecting music. So, you're at the CD rack and don't quite know what to buy. Let your prejudice sway your choice. When you don't know an artist by name, and can't listen before buying, try picking by sight.
If there are any, look at the people in the album art. Clothing, expressions, instruments and more can give an indicator of what kind of music lies within. Is the jacket art dark and eerie, or is it bright and flowery? Even the lettering chosen for the cover can reflect what's inside. The text can reveal a lot, too. Are words intentionally misspelled? Is the text arranged so it's inconvenient to read? Another pointer on what your CD might sound like is the record label. Tooth and Nail, Intense, and Metal Blade will most likely give you harder music than Sparrow, Lily of the Field or Heart Song. Granted, it doesn't always work this way --Galactic Cowboys isn't a country and western band, and Newsboys isn't your run-of-the-mill boyband.
If you don't have any stereotypes in your mind, you're an extremely rare person and the above method of hunting for music might not work. I've got lots of stereotypes, but this topic isn't really the forum to discuss that. Suffice it to say, my stereotypes are usually right, but they're sometimes wrong as well.
You've probably got stereotypes that, like it or not, lead you to pre-judge things. You can, in a pinch, use them as tools for music selection. Don't be afraid to experiment. It often works, but the prejudice-selection-method sometimes misses. Below are some of my attempts which turned out differently than anticipated. Hey, it can happen.
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